There's something very wrong with our pterosaurs.

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Monthly Archives: June 2014

A recent paper
by Wang et al. (2014) introduced us to a new ornithocheirid, Hamipterus (Fig. 1) — AND it’s three-dimensional eggs (Fig. 2). The preservation is atypical: several dozen disarticulated specimens of many sizes were jumbled together, likely following a sudden flood. A Pterodaustro colony was preserved similarly. This sort of preservation can be a blessing and a curse. The parts are buried quickly and we can compare individual and strongly associated elements with those of other pterosaurs, but we cannot create a complete reconstruction except by estimation, especially since so many sizes are represented.

Figure 1. Hamipterus skulls and mandibles compared. Scale bar = 5cm. Ghosted images are from smaller specimens. Here skulls are divided according to Wang et al’s assessment of gender based on crest shape. This may be true, and if so represents the first such instance. In other pterosaurs crests are phylogenetic, growing larger or smaller in derived specimens.

Hamipterus — what is it?
Adding Hamipterus to the Wang et al. pterosaur family tree resulted in 324 MPTs with loss of resolution at Hamipterus and elsewhere. Unfortunately they found toothless Pteranodon and Nyctosauruswere the outgroup taxa. Their problem is a result of yet another instance of taxon exclusion.

Eggs
Wang et al. report a total of five eggs were recovered. Most are 59 to 65x34mm in size. One egg was smaller: 30x22mm and considered, “not fully developed.”The shell was pliable, with an ultra-thin calcareous layer followed by a thinner shell membrane, a structure the authors considered similar to that of snakes. (Hmm, and snakes are lepidosaurs!!!). Unfortunately the authors suggest Hamipterus,“likely made its nesting grounds on the shores of freshwater lakes or rivers and buried its eggs in sand along the shore, preventing them from being desiccated.”Of course, another way for them to prevent egg desiccation is to carry eggs within the female until just prior to hatching. Wang et all report that “the eggs are not part of the same clutch and were likely laid by different females, since they were found apart from each other, mixed with bones and subjected to limited transportation.” Of course this would require that buried eggs were excavated before transportation — or they could have been carried within the mother, like many lizards do. Then there’s the half-size egg. That is most likely explained by having a half-sized mom pterosaur. Chinsamy et al. (2008) reported that Pterodaustro reached sexual maturity at half the final adult size. Half-sized moms had half-sized pelves and half-sized eggs.

Figure 4. Sternal complex, two pelves and two scapulocoracoids from the Hamipterus beds. These are all good matches for ornithoicheirids near Boreiopterus and Arthurdactylus. Sternal complex shows separate clavicles wrapping around sternum.

Not ill, on a honeymoon or in orbit.
I’ve been working on the reptile family tree, especially at the base. Better data has come along. Then one thing led to another and another and another. It’s been rewarding seeing minor problems disappear, yet frustrating as those solutions led to other minor problems at other nodes.

Ultimately
we’re going to have a better tree and more accurate reconstructions, some of which have already been added to reptileevolution.com. Many of these will form the basis for future posts, some mundane, some mind-blowing.

Luckily there hasn’t been much news in the paleoworld lately. Funny how things work out sometimes.